Production Losses Research Articles

Robust wind farm layout optimization

Wake interactions in wind farms cause losses in annual energy production (AEP) on the order of 10%. Wind farm designers optimize the layout of the farm to mitigate wake losses, especially in the dominant site-specific wind directions. As wind turbines and wind farms grow in scale, optimization becomes more complex. Offshore wind farms regularly comprise more than 100 wind turbines and are characterized by complex boundaries due to shipping lanes, neighboring wind farms, and other constraints.Layout optimization methods are broadly split between gradient-based and gradient-free approaches. Gradient-based approaches can converge quickly and perform well for smaller, academic problems but are often sensitive to initial conditions and tuning parameters and require expert knowledge to use. On the other hand, gradient-free approaches can be more robust to problem complexities. We present a robust layout optimization approach based on a random search algorithm. The algorithm is intended for those who are not optimization experts and has few tuning parameters that need specification to achieve satisfactory results. Unlike off-the-shelf methods, which use generally available, non-domain-specific optimization routines that accept as inputs an optimization function and constraint definitions, this approach takes advantage of the relative computational costs of the different evaluations by evaluating cheaper computations first (boundary and minimum distance constraints) and running expensive AEP evaluations only if all other checks pass. Moreover, an outer genetic algorithm allows multiple solutions to evolve in parallel, enabling rapid solution development on high-performance computers. We discuss the relative ease of selecting necessary tuning parameters and demonstrate the efficacy of the genetic random search on a complex layout problem consisting of placing 70 turbines in a nonconvex and unconnected boundary region.

Comparative Multi-Omics Analysis of Broomcorn Millet in Response to Anthracocystis destruens Infection.

Anthracocystis destruens is the causal agent of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) smut disease, which results in serious yield losses in broomcorn millet production. However, the molecular basis underlying broomcorn millet defense against A. destruens is less understood. In this study, we investigated how broomcorn millet responds to infection by A.destruens by employing a comprehensive multi-omics approach. We examined the responses of broomcorn millet across transcriptome, metabolome, and microbiome levels. Infected leaves exhibited an upregulation of genes related to photosynthesis, accompanied by a higher accumulation of photosynthesis-related compounds and alterations in hormonal levels. However, broomcorn millet genes involved in immune response were downregulated post A. destruens infection, suggesting that A.destruens may suppress broomcorn millet immunity. In addition, we show that the immune suppression and altered host metabolism induced by A.destruens have no significant effect on the microbial community structure of broomcorn millet leaf, thus providing a new perspective for understanding the tripartite interaction between plant, pathogen, and microbiota.

Regional aspects in assessment of performance and effectiveness of the risk-based model for control and surveillance activities in provision of sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing of the population

This research is relevant since it is important to assess performance and effectiveness of activities performed by Rospotrebnadzor bodies and organizations in RF regions. The aim of this study was to assess performance and effectiveness of control and surveillance activities performed by a territorial office of Rospotrebnadzor given the current reduction in scheduled inspections. Control and surveillance activities performed by the Rospotrebnadzor Rostov Regional Office in 2023 were selected as the research object. They were aimed at improving the quality of the environment for the region population and indirectly at reducing population incidence and mortality associated with exposures to harmful risk factors represented by ambient air, water, and soil pollution etc. The study was accomplished relying on methodical instruments developed by the Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies and approved by the RF Chief Sanitary Inspector. The basic methodology establishes rules for calculating economic losses associated with population mortality and incidence (children, working age population and population older than working age) caused by environmental exposures. Calculations were based on the results of instrumental measurements of the environment quality in cities in the Rostov region and the results of scheduled and off-schedule control activities performed by the Rospotrebnadzor Rostov Regional Office in 2023. It was established that control and surveillance activities performed by the Service managed to prevent approximately 1760 deaths and more than 152.4 thousand diseases, which could actually occur should the Service fail to perform its regulatory actions. The total prevented economic losses equaled approximately 2.1 billion rubles in 2023. Economic effectiveness was established relying on prevented losses of the gross regional product and equaled 7.25 rubles per 1 spent ruble in 2023 prices. There are several promising trends in the scientific and methodical support provided by practical activities performed by Rospotrebnadzor. They include development and implementation of methodical approaches to assessing effectiveness of prevention activities; searching for new approaches to assessing performance and effectiveness of other activities accomplished by the Service (licensing, registration of new and hazardous chemicals and products, etc.).

Sero-epidemiological study of brucellosis in cattle under pastoral/agro-pastoral and mixed crop-livestock systems in South Omo, southern Ethiopia

BackgroundIn the pastoral/agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia, like in South Omo, brucellosis constitutes a serious health threat for livestock and the public. The public health risk is especially high in these communities, as their way of life is highly linked with their herds. ObjectiveThe study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence and identify potential risk factors of cattle brucellosis in South Omo zone in southern Ethiopia. MethodsA total of 614 traditionally managed local zebu female cattle, above six months old, were bled and data on hypothesized risk factors were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The preliminary screening of the sera for Brucella antibodies was done using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and positive sera were further subjected to complement fixation test (CFT). ResultsThe overall animal level seroprevalence of brucellosis was 2.8 % (95 % CI: 1.72–4.41) while herd level prevalence was 11.3 % (95 % CI: 6.5–19.0). Among the risk factors considered, seroprevalence was associated with herd size, new animal introduction, district, history of occurrence of abortion, and retained fetal membranes (RFM), at both individual- and herd-level (p < 0.05). Higher seroprevalence of brucellosis was observed in cows than heifers and in animals older than 4 years (p < 0.05). Brucella seroprevalence was higher in herds in lowland areas than those in mid-altitude and highlands (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe individual and herd level prevalence observed in our study indicates endemicity of brucellosis and the potential public health threat it poses in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of southern Ethiopia. The results of the study also suggest that the disease might be responsible for significant losses in cattle productivity due to impaired reproductive performance.

Global perspective on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis - prevalence, clinical impact, economic implications and management strategies.

The metabolically-based liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the most common cause of chronic liver disease currently affecting 38% of the world's adult population. NAFLD can be progressive leading to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver transplantation, liver cancer, liver-related mortality and is associated with decreased quality of life from impaired physical functioning and increased healthcare resource utilisation. However, screening for NAFLD is cost-prohibitive but screening for high risk NAFLD (NAFLD with F2 fibrosis or greater) is imperative. To review the global perspective on NAFLD and NASH METHODS: We retrieved articles from PubMed using search terms NAFLD, prevalence, clinical burden, economic burden and management strategies. NAFLD/NASH shows geographical variation across the globe. Highest prevalence rates are in South America and the Middle East and North Africa; lowest prevalence is in Africa. NAFLD's economic impact is from direct and indirect medical costs and loss in worker productivity. It is projected that, over the next two decades, the total cost of NAFLD and diabetes will exceed $1.5 trillion (USD). Risk stratification algorithms identifying "high risk NAFLD" were made following non-invasive tests for NAFLD identification and fibrosis development. These algorithms should be used in primary care and endocrinology settings so timely and appropriate interventions (lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factor management) can be initiated. To reduce the burgeoning burden of NAFLD/NASH, management should include risk stratification algorithms for accurate identification of patients, linkage to appropriate settings, and initiation of effective treatment regimens.

EE250 Work Productivity Loss Among Adults Aged 18–64 Years With Osteoarthritis in the United States: 2016-2020

EE250 Work Productivity Loss Among Adults Aged 18–64 Years With Osteoarthritis in the United States: 2016-2020

Cost-effectiveness of eculizumab and efgartigimod for the treatment of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis.

Eculizumab and efgartigimod were approved to treat anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis (anti-AChR Ab-positive gMG). These relatively new biological treatments provide a more rapid onset of action and improved efficacy compared with conventional immunosuppressive treatments, but at a higher cost. To assess the cost-effectiveness of eculizumab and, separately, efgartigimod, each added to conventional therapy vs conventional therapy alone, among patients with refractory anti-AChR Ab-positive gMG and those with anti-AChR Ab-positive gMG, respectively. A Markov model with 4 health states was developed, evaluating costs and utility with a 4-week cycle length and lifetime time horizon from a health care system perspective and a modified societal perspective including productivity losses from patients and caregiver burden. Model inputs were informed by key clinical trials and relevant publications identified from targeted literature reviews, and drug costs were identified from Micromedex Red Book. Costs and outcomes were discounted at 3% per year. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs; cost per quality-adjusted life-year [QALY] gained) were calculated for each comparison. Among the corresponding populations, lifetime costs and QALYs, respectively, for eculizumab were $5,515,000 and 11.85, and for conventional therapy, $308,000 and 10.29, resulting in an ICER of $3,338,000/QALY gained. For efgartigimod, lifetime costs and QALYs, respectively, were $6,773,000 and 13.22, and for conventional therapy, $322,000 and 9.98, yielding an ICER of $1,987,000/QALY gained. After applying indirect costs in a modified societal perspective, the ICERs were reduced to $3,310,000/QALY gained for eculizumab and $1,959,000/QALY gained for efgartigimod. Eculizumab and efgartigimod are rapidly acting and effective treatments for myasthenia gravis. However, at their current price, both therapies greatly exceeded common cost-effectiveness thresholds, likely limiting patient access to these therapies.

Cost consequence model of the MammaPrint (70-gene signature) and 21-gene signature in patients with primary HR+HER2-, N1 early-stage breast cancer in Germany.

534 Background: The MammaPrint 70-gene and Oncotype DX 21-gene signatures serve to stratify breast cancer tumors, distinguishing between those with low or high risk of distant metastasis. Patients with a low genomic risk tumor have the option to avoid overtreatment by omitting chemotherapy and minimize associated toxicities. This analysis evaluates the economic impact of implementing MammaPrint, Oncotype DX (ODx), or no gene signature testing for patients with HR+ HER2- early breast cancer with 1 to 3 positive lymph nodes (N1) in Germany. Methods: We constructed a cost-consequence model to assess the budget implications of MammaPrint, ODx, and not employing a gene signature, considering both the healthcare payers and societal perspective. The model focuses on patients with HR+/HER2-/N1 breast tumors who, in the absence of a gene expression analysis, would receive chemotherapy in 63% of cases according to the data of the certified breast cancers in Germany. Input data were sourced from MINDACT, RxPONDER, literature, the EBM, the DRG system. The healthcare payer perspective covers testing, direct/indirect costs of chemotherapy, and disease recurrence costs. The societal perspective adds transport costs and productivity losses to these. Results: A projected 9,207 HR+/HER2-/N1 breast cancer patients were candidates for genomic testing. In MINDACT, patients were classified as MammaPrint Low Risk in 73% of cases, and in RxPONDER 83% of patients were categorized as ODx Low Risk (RS 0-25). The model demonstrated per patient savings from a healthcare payer perspective of €3.766 for MammaPrint and €900 for ODx compared to not using any gene signature for N1 breast cancer patients in Germany. Importantly, the savings are even more substantial from a societal perspective, reaching €11.815 for MammaPrint and €11.243 for ODx. When limiting the population to women &gt;50 years, similar results were observed with per patient savings from a payer perspective of €3.766 and €1.549, and from a societal perspective of €9.826 and €9.349, for MammaPrint and ODx, respectively. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that personalized treatment planning with genomic testing for breast cancer with HR+/HER2-/LN1 breast cancer, leads to a reduction in chemotherapy use and associated costs in Germany. Although MammaPrint designates a smaller proportion of genomically high risk patients compared to ODx, MammaPrint Low Risk patients without chemotherapy demonstrate higher survival outcomes. Consequently, any increased chemotherapy costs are offset by lower testing and distant recurrence expenses, making MammaPrint a cost-conscious option.

Changes in phycospheric and environmental microbes in Neoporphyra haitanensis during the cultivation cycle

Neoporphyra haitanensis is an economic seaweed widely cultivated along the coast of China, allowing 4–5 times harvests during a cultivation season. The composition and functions of algal-microbial communities are intricate, dynamic, and closely linked to the health of algae. This study utilized metagenomic and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing to investigate the dynamic changes in the phycospheric microbial communities of Neoporphyra haitanensis (PMC-Nh) and bacterial communities of surrounding seawater (BC-SW) during the cultivation cycle, providing valuable reference data for monitoring and preventing diseases of cultivated seaweed. The results indicated that N. haitanensis might possess the ability to “recruit” and “select” surrounding microbial communities. Beneficial bacteria contributing to carbon, nitrogen, sulfur or phosphorus cycles, such as Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria at the class level, and Rhodobacteraceae, Saprospiraceae, Flavobacteriaceae at the family level, exhibited increased abundance. A symbiotic relationship based on resource supply formed between algae and PMC-Nh. However, potential pathogenic bacteria capable of degrading algae, such as Aquimana, Nonlabens, Alteromonas, Loktanella, also successfully colonized. The yield and quality of N. haitanensis in the 2nd and 3rd harvests are crucial for annual production and income. However, potential pathogenic bacteria and factors peaked in abundance during the 2nd harvest. At this point, the symbiotic body formed by Neoporphyra and the PMC-Nh was in a state of equilibrium on the “tip of the needle”. Biomarkers in the 2nd harvest, such as Nonlabens and Alteromonas, have been reported as algal pathogens. Moreover, pathways or factors associated with bacterial pathogenesis were significantly enriched in the algal-associated microbial community in the 2nd harvest, such as biofilm formation, flagellar assembly, bacterial secretion system pathways, and virulence factors of the Virulence Factors of Pathogenic Bacteria (VFDB) database. This may be attributed to the variable and frequently intense temperature increases in the coastal areas of the East China Sea during the 2nd harvest period in mid to late October, leading to significant shifts in microbial balance. The PMC-Nh remained relatively stable during the 3rd harvest. Until the end of cultivation, pathways related to glycometabolism and the content of glycoside hydrolases in the PMC-Nh increased, possibly due to heightened polysaccharide content and the maturation or senescence of the final stage of N. haitanensis, favoring polysaccharide exudation. Our results suggest that the 2nd harvest stage is a high-risk period for N. haitanensis cultivation, and effective cultivation management should be conducted to prevent widespread algal decay and reduce production losses.

Gender disparities in lost productivity resulting from non-communicable diseases in Mexico, 2005-2021.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause long-term impacts on health and can substantially affect people's ability to work. Little is known about how such impacts vary by gender, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where productivity losses may affect economic development. This study assessed the long-term productivity loss caused by major NCDs among adult women and men (20-76 years) in Mexico because of premature death and hospitalisations, between 2005 and 2021. We conducted an economic valuation based on the Human Capital Approach. We obtained population-based data from the National Employment Survey from 2005 to 2021 to estimate the expected productivity according to age and gender using a two-part model. We utilised expected productivity based on wage rates to calculate the productivity loss, employing Mexican official mortality registries and hospital discharge microdata for the same period. To assess the variability in our estimations, we performed sensitivity analyses under two different scenarios. Premature mortality by cancers, diabetes, chronic cardiovascular diseases (CVD), chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) caused a productivity loss of 102.6 billion international US dollars (Intl. USD) from 2.8 million premature deaths. Seventy-three percent of this productivity loss was observed among men. Cancers caused 38.3% of the productivity loss (mainly among women), diabetes 38.1, CVD 15.1, CRD 3.2, and CKD 5.3%. Regarding hospitalisations, the estimated productivity loss was 729.7 million Intl. USD from 54.2 million days of hospitalisation. Men faced 65.4 and women 34.6% of these costs. Cancers caused 41.3% of the productivity loss mainly by women, followed by diabetes (22.1%), CKD (20.4%), CVD (13.6%) and CRD (2.6%). Major NCDs impose substantial costs from lost productivity in Mexico and these tend to be higher amongst men, while for some diseases the economic burden is higher for women. This should be considered to inform policymakers to design effective gender-sensitive health and social protection interventions to tackle the burden of NCDs.

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in Czechia and Slovakia: Quality of life and costs from patient perspective

IntroductionLeber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is the most frequent mitochondrial disease causing dyschromatopsia and progressive central visual loss that is subacute in progression and painless. Several studies have been published assessing QoL in patients with LHON, but no estimate of the economic burden has been reported to date. This study aims to quantify direct non-medical and indirect costs (productivity loss) incurred by LHON patients and their informal caregivers in Czechia and Slovakia, as well as to assess their quality of life. MethodsThe study was performed in 27 adults and children with LHON. To determine the socioeconomic burden of LHON, separate questionnaires for adults, children, and their parents were developed, including demographic and socioeconomic data. The following data were collected: age, education, family size, severity of LHON, non-medical direct and indirect costs of LHON. ResultsThe mean age of adult respondents was 36.1 years (SD 13.1; n = 21). The total cost of absenteeism was EUR 1003 per person/year in adult employees, and EUR 2711 per person/year in children's parents. The productivity loss as a consequence of LHON due to combined relative absenteeism and relative presenteeism was estimated at EUR 9840 per an adult patient/year, and EUR 6298 per a parent/year, respectively. The mean cost of informal care was estimated at EUR 4502 (SD 4772; n = 6) per person/year. The mean VFQ-25 score for adult patients with LHON was 43.47 (SD 15.86). ConclusionThe results of this study clearly show that patients with LHON and their families face an extensive socioeconomic burden related to this rare disease. Early, timely and appropriate access to diagnosis, treatment, and reimbursement decisions, but also to psychological counselling and services may help the patients and their relatives adapt and cope with the challenging aspects of vision loss and life with the disease.

Detection of bacterial spot disease on tomato leaves using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)

Tomato diseases have become a major concern to the tomato production sector around the world. A huge proportion of tomato crops deteriorate yearly during growth or after harvesting due to the infections caused by fungus, viruses and bacteria. Early detection of these diseases plays a crucial role in alleviating overall production loss. Over the past decades, farmers have been using visual observation to identify a crop disease in a field. However, the visual observation method is labour intensive, time consuming, and prone to human error. Currently, intelligent approaches have been widely used to detect and classify these diseases. The objective of this study is to design a convolutional neural network VGG16 net architecture that is able to detect tomato diseases on tomato leaves. A model that can successfully detect 5 tomato leaf diseases was developed: (1) Bacterial spot, (2) Early blight, (3) Late blight, (4) Septoria leaf and (5) Yellow leaf curl with a training accuracy of 0.9328.

A Chelex-100-based rapid DNA extraction method and its application in the detection of shrimp pathogens

BackgroundThe Pacific white shrimp is one of the world’s most economically significant aquatic species, being one of the top three species cultured globally. However, the increasing incidence of diseases such as acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease and hepatopancreatic microsporidia has led to a serious decline in shrimp production and severe economic losses. With the increasing demand for pathogen detection in shrimp farms, rapid DNA extraction technology has become more sophisticated. In this study, a rapid and crude method of extracting genomic DNA from shrimp muscle and hepatopancreas using Chelex-100 was established. ResultsDNA was successfully extracted from muscle and hepatopancreatic tissues using both the Chelex-100 method and commercial kits. The internal reference genes of shrimp were successfully amplified via PCR and real-time PCR using the obtained DNA samples. Moreover, a field assay was successfully conducted using real-time PCR and real-time enzymatic recombinase amplification (real-time ERA), indicating that the quality of the DNA extracted using Chelex-100 is sufficient for use in conjunction with nucleic acid amplification to detect pathogens in shrimps. ConclusionsChelex-100 is an efficient method for extracting DNA from shrimp muscle or hepatopancreas tissues, with a short extraction time, high extraction efficiency, and simple operation, making it appropriate for use in the detection of pathogens in shrimp.How to cite: Yang H, Zhou Q, Hu J, et al. A Chelex-100-based rapid DNA extraction method and its application in the detection of shrimp pathogens. Electron J Biotechnol 2024;70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2024.04.004.

African food system and biodiversity mainly affected by urbanization via dietary shifts

AbstractThe rapid urbanization in Africa profoundly affects local food and ecological systems. According to earlier research, urbanization may cause food production and biodiversity losses as agricultural or natural lands are absorbed by expanding cities. Land-use displacement effects may buffer agricultural production losses or may lead to additional biodiversity losses but are often overlooked. Moreover, impacts of dietary changes associated with urbanization are rarely considered. To address this, we combined spatially explicit projections of African urban area expansion with observed rice consumption shifts to inform a partial equilibrium model (the Global Biosphere Management Model). We demonstrate the importance of displacement effects to identify potential food production or biodiversity issues until 2050 and argue for their integration in land-use planning and policymaking across spatial scales. We identify that because of agricultural displacement, the impact of urban area expansion on food production losses is probably limited (&lt;1%)—at the cost of additional losses of natural lands by 2050 (up to 2 Mt). We also show that considering dietary shifts associated with urbanization increases rice consumption, production (+8.0%), trade (up to +2 Mt of required import) and agricultural methane emissions (up to +12 MtCO2-equivalent yr–1), thereby underscoring the need for a systems approach in future sustainability studies.

Annual Accumulation of CymMV May Lead to Loss in Production of Asymptomatic Vanilla Propagated by Cuttings.

Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) is a valuable orchid spice cultivated for its highly priced beans. Vanilla has been planted in Hainan province of China via cutting propagation for about 40 years. The yield has been decreasing annually for the past ten years due to pod numbers declining significantly even though it seems to grow normally without disease symptoms, while the reason is still unknown. In this study, we found that Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV), one of the most devastating viruses causing losses in the vanilla industry, massively presented within the pods and leaves of vanilla plants, so the virus infecting the vanilla seems to be a highly probable hypothesis of the main contributions to low yield via decreasing the number of pods. This represents the first speculation of CymMV possibly affecting the yield of vanilla in China, indicating the important role of virus elimination in restoring high yield in vanilla. This research can also serve as a warning to important economic crops that rely on cuttings for propagation, demonstrating that regular virus elimination is very important for these economically propagated crops through cuttings.

Emergence of Lasiodiplodia theobromae induced leaf necrosis in tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze) from India.

The tea plant, Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze, is a vital global agricultural commodity, yet faces challenges from fungal infections, which affects its production. To reduce the loss in the tea production, the fungal infections must be removed which is managed with fungicides, which are harmful to the environment. Leaf necrosis, which decreases tea quality and quantity, was investigated across Assam, revealing Lasiodiplodia theobromae as the causative agent. Pathogenicity tests, alongside morphological and molecular analyses, confirmed its role in leaf necrosis. Genome and gene analysis of L. theobromae showed multiple genes related to its pathogenicity. The study also assessed the impact of chemical pesticides on this pathogen. Additionally, the findings in this study highlight the significance of re-assessing management approaches in considering the fungal infection in tea.

The Burden of Work Productivity and Activity Impairment in Patients with Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ulcerative Colitis, and Crohn's Disease.

Comparisons among autoimmune diseases enable understanding of the burden and factors associated with work productivity loss and impairment. The objective was to compare work productivity and activity and associated factors among patients with inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune conditions. This cross-sectional study included employed, adult patients (age 20-64 years) in the CorEvitas Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Psoriasis, and Psoriatic Arthritis/Spondyloarthritis Registries between 5/2017 and 6/2020. Any patient-reported impairment on four domains of the Work Productivity and Activity Index (WPAI) was collected across registries. Prevalence for each autoimmune disease was reported and stratified by disease activity using direct age-sex-standardization. Factors associated with the presence of any WPAI were identified in logistic regression models. A total of 7,169 patients with psoriasis (n = 4,768, 67%), psoriatic arthritis (n = 1,208, 17%), Crohn's disease (CD, n = 621, 9%), and ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 572, 8%) met inclusion criteria. Among patients not in remission across all disease cohorts, the age-sex-standardized prevalence of any presenteeism, work productivity loss, and activity impairment ranged from 54 to 97%. Patients with CD in remission had higher standardized prevalence of presenteeism (53% [48-57%]) and work productivity loss (54% [49-59%]), compared to those from other cohorts (presenteeism [range: 33-39%] and work productivity loss [range: 37-41%]). For all WPAI domains, the strongest adjusted associations were for moderate to severe disease activity and psychosocial symptoms. Patients with moderate to severe disease activity reported the highest WPAI burden. However, patients in remission or mild disease activity also report some WPAI burden, emphasizing a multidisciplinary treatment approach to improve work productivity loss and impairment.

PDHL-MARCOS method based on cumulative prospect theory for MAGDM and its application in network security evaluation

The increasingly large and complex network brings convenience to our life and production, but it also brings potential dangers. Any minor vulnerability may lead to failure of application software configuration, software maintenance, user management and system management. Eventually, our network is interrupted, and even life and production data are leaked. Therefore, establishing a scientific and effective network security evaluation model is an effective way to supervise, manage and improve network security; It is also an effective measure to reduce the loss of life and production. Therefore, we first selected six factors closely related to network security to form a complete network security evaluation index system. Then, the utility function in the traditional measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS) method is improved by using the value function in cumulative prospect theory (CPT), and a PDHL-MARCOS evaluation model that can reflect the decision-makers’ (DMs’) attitudes towards gains and losses is obtained in the probabilistic double hierarchy linguistic term set (PDHLTS). In addition, the relative entropy (RE) method is also used to obtain expert weights. The combination weights of attributes are obtained using the correlation coefficient and the standard deviation (CCSD) method and the weight function in CPT.

Modelling error chains in offshore wind energy systems: Examining the interplay of human performance and machine state

A dynamic model of the mutual interdependency between humans and machines in offshore wind farms (OWFs) is developed in this paper. The model emphasises the importance of having early indicators to dynamically moderate human behaviour and the need to account for both human and physical subsystems and their mutual interactions for optimal asset management practices. This work simulates three distinct scenarios for: (1) examining the interconnectedness of technical and human dynamics and their implications on error and failure; (2) assessing the impact of production loss on human and organisational behaviour; and (3) evaluating human error probability as an early warning sign of production loss. The findings suggest that adopting an appropriate maintenance culture and considering human error likelihood and production rate in decision-making leads to optimising production and mitigating the risks associated with human error. The research highlights the significance of comprehending the complex interactions between human and machine factors in the operation and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind turbines (OWTs). The proposed dynamic model helps organisations identify the underlying causes of errors, allowing them to improve their maintenance strategies.

Removal of empty capsids from high-dose adeno-associated virus 9 gene therapies.

Recombinant adeno-associated virus, serotype 9 (rAAV9) has shown promise as a gene therapy vector for muscle and central nervous diseases. High-dose requirements of these therapies present critical safety considerations and biomanufacturing challenges. Notably, the reduction of empty capsids (ECs), which lack therapeutic transgene, from rAAV9 products is critical to maximize efficacy. Removal of rAAV ECs from full capsids is a major downstream challenge because of their highly similar biophysical characteristics. Ultracentrifugation (UC) reduces ECs but is laborious and difficult to scale. In this paper, to replace a poorly scalable UC process, we developed an anion exchange (AEX) chromatography for rAAV9 EC reduction from full capsids. AEX load preparation by dilution incurred major product loss. The addition of histidine and surfactants to dilution buffers increased yield and reduced aggregation. Elution salts were screened and sodium acetate was found to maximize yield and EC reduction. The most promising load dilution buffer and elution salt were used in combination to form an optimized AEX method. The process reduced ECs three-fold, demonstrated robustness to a broad range of EC load challenges, and was scaled for large-scale manufacture. Compared to UC, the AEX method simplified scale-up, reduced ECs to comparable levels (20%), afforded similar purity and product quality, and increased yield by 14%.